ned brighter he held it above his head. Now he could see the
wall of rock all about, and on the further side and close to the wall, a
large boulder. Then, as his eyes grew accustomed to the semi-darkness,
he could see the floor formation, and as its outlines grew more
distinct, he caught the gleam of white teeth grinning at him from some
creature almost at his feet! Breathless now, and trembling, he lowered
his torch, and beheld prostrate there in front of him two shriveled and
blackened corpses!

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE FATE OF A MISER.

As Manson gazed in horror at those two charred bodies reduced to
skeletons in that dark cave, he felt more than ever that his every step
for many days had been in obedience to some mysterious power that had at
last brought him face to face with danger and death.

For one instant the impulse to turn from that ghastly sight and leave
the cave came to him, but the baleful fascination of those hideous
objects held him prisoner. He could not if he would turn away. One of
the skeletons, for such they almost were, was that of a tall man, face
up, the grinning teeth fully exposed; the other of smaller size, with
legs and arms drawn together. No signs of clothing were visible on
either, and the flesh appeared to have shrunk away, showing the shape of
every bone. Midway between them lay a rusted pistol and just beyond,
glistening in the faint light, were bits of glass. When his eyes grew
accustomed to the sickening sight he raised them, looked around, and for
the first time saw, a few feet away, a raised, table-like rock, and on
it piles of round dark bits of metal. Taking two steps he stooped, and
picking up one of these pieces held it close to the light. It was a
twenty-dollar gold piece!

Wonder succeeded horror! What mystery was this? Two charred skeletons
beside a pile of gold in this dark and silent cavern! Was it some
infernal dream or a reality? He stooped and picked up more of the coins.
Gold, every one! Then he examined others and found silver dollars and
halves. He turned and looked about, holding one torch above his head,
and almost expecting to see some spectral form half-hid in the shadows.
Only the faintly outlined walls of rock could be seen. Then, feeling
faint and weak from the intense strain, he hastily retraced his steps
down and out of the cave. He was just in time, for the rising tide had
almost cut off his exit. So weak now that he could hardly walk, he crept
arou